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You know .. I just figured how i am gonna drive business in my company. Havent even informed Ryan yet. You know .. Ryan , Business Head for BODYFUELZ – my boss.. So he had asked me this question the other day – Vikas , how are you gonna drive business in this company ?

Been mashing up my thoughts for a quiet a while now . Actually a month . Close to a month …

Well , when i did figure out I kinda had this englightment inside me . Like this – “Boom! thats It ! This is what i want to do . this is what i should be doing. this what i am good at . Or i could be good at but not yet there.”

So ahem .. here is what I would be doing with my future . At least the discipline I gonna dedicate my career.

I will put it in points just in case i read this blog couple of months from now when i need direction.

– Economics + Digital Media : I am trained economist. Rather : trained to understand economics. So no matter what others think , I tell ya folks, Economics is so KOOOOl! Seriously it is .. It makes you compare and understand and figure out how a consumer spends or how he/she is likely to spend, with the money earned. It is fasicnating. It is human drama and it is has all the ingredients to make it a pot-boiler.

Now if I marry economics to digital media , you have a Blue Market Career. Fancy words, fancy titles .. you know the drill!

– Social Media Communitions : You have heard of social media marketing but this is new. Social Media Communications is the package of social media technologies , corp comm and public relations. I haven tried it yet but something tells me ( it is the guts i say , MIND IT!) that this concept is gonna rock.

– E Business : Get the word right . It is not e- commerce. It is E- Business. Watch this space to know more on what is the difference between the two.

– Connected Marketing : Word of Mouth, Viral and Network hubs. String them together and you have a great campaign. Figure out a way to convert that to sales. Man, you will rock the boat! You know, I actually wanna rock my life, my relationships and my company once in a while .. Shake out the toxins and bring in fresh air. It will do good.

– Word of Mouth : This is repetative. But I love this concept so much that it needs to be revisted in my list. If i can crowd source, buzz market, social network, tech process, thought lead, create hubs and start a wom plague then connect with a sale. I get done more with less.

heads up : Digital Branding is here to stay . What it lacks is a Jermiah kind of a guy who will walk the talk and talk the walk. I mean , who is will talk about it ( become a thought leader… ) and walk the talk ( …and show how it is done) . I am gonna be that guy or die trying . I am no technologist . I dont code. I observe ( i am a buddhist by practise you see..) and i will be the “watcher” and then make my move from behind the scenes .

What will happen in future with these ideas ? Dont know. Dont care.. but this is me now ..

Was not sleepy yesterday night. Say around 12.20 am . I was thinking the question which i never expected I would ask myself.

What are my interests? What are my passions?

And more importantly, I asked the question, how can i make my parents proud? And even more important question, how can I be proud of myself?

What are my interests? I am still thinking about it. Haven’t found the answer yet.

What are my passions? Books. Then how can I convert my passion for books in something myself and my family can be proud of? Should I write a book? No, I don’t have that sort of creativity. I love reading books, collecting books and reflecting a lot on what is written in them. But don’t think I can write.

What else do i like? Economics – Now here is something I can do something about. I can prepare and appear for the Delhi School of Economics, Masters in Economics prog. But, I am not really good with numbers and I don’t have an envious academic track record. I would like to be part of RBI or public sector companies. I may not earn a lot but I can research and write papers which will be of use to nation building.

I love fitness and helping people reach their fitness goals. So should I stop working and do a fitness course and open a gym?

But if that was the case, then I should open a library because I love spending time with books.

Does that mean Fitness and books are interests and passion?

What else? … What else? … I draw a blank!

Is that it? Is that all? I am 25 now and is that all I can think of as my passion?

I talk a lot about branding, marketing and social media.

Are they interests or passion?

Why is that people dont follow passion and follow interest.

For example. Why is it that people end up doing MBA in marketing and finance when they love economics? Why do people give up on their dreams to learn archaeology and instead study for engineering from their minds when the heart roams in the subject of archaeology? Why study for doctor when they want to work in agricultural related field?

Is it because it has been ingrained in our mind that following our passions will not give us monetary benefits to settle down in life?

My dad loves Chemistry and medicine. I always wonder why didn’t he pursue masters in chemistry and become a bio chemist. He says – Vikas, during those days my dad dint have enough money to send me to a college that’s why .

Do you know what he is today ? He is a Sales guy with 25 years of experience. You can still see him talk passionately about chemical bonds, aroma compounds and molecular structure. He still buys CIMS latest book and keeps himself updated on medicine and drugs available in the market. He probably knows the combination of almost any drug in a pharmacy.

Today he sells flasks.

Had he pursued his passion he could have done what he really wanted to do in his life – Chemistry, research and teaching. He would still tell me (if I ask him) – Vikas, should you decide to get into research field then don’t worry . I will take care of you and your food and your stay …etc.

I am 25.. I work… Should I be hearing this from him?

Or should I be saying – Dad, why don’t you retire… I will take it from here.

Big Question: What are your dreams and passions? What are your likes and interests? What is the difference between them ..

Is it good news ? Of course not. Why should it be ? Think about it. Deflation arises when less money is chasing more products. So the question now comes – Is it that we Indians have no money to buy ?

On the contrary,Indians have the money to invest. How else would you explain record number of new mobile connections sold ? How else will you explain Mercedes selling more cars in India than in most of the so called “‘mature”, “developed” markets ? How else can you explain the IPL commercial values involved? How else can you explain DTH connections sold in drones in the last 6 months?

So you see , we can safely say that we Indians have the money to spend. What prevents us from spending a lot ( unlike last year) is the fear factor.

France , America, Britian has millions of job loses reported . France had 3 million out on streets protesting against wage cutes and unemployment. How many such rallies have we seen in India? I will let you answer that question.

First, let us accept the accept that the Indian economy clocked 9% G.D.P last year and it was fueled by entrepreneurship . But, unlike our counterparts ,Indians are largely insulated by the bad economic troubles. But true to our risk averse mind set we are saving our money and too scared to invest or buy in indulgence. Therefore , demand is low.

There are 2 ways at looking at it. Positive and Negative. Taking the current discussion under consideration, we are forced to look at the negative reasons. And negative reasons are very scary indeed.

What can be done ? Two things – Awarness and Proactive solutions by the government and private companies and banks.

Self Awareness from the people is hard to come by. The government representatives should come out and talk directly to the people instead of just giving out talks in press conference . TV news channels can give a good coverage by inviting top brass to address people directly.

Address the Nation : When was the last the time we actually sat in front of the TV and listened to Presidential speech on the eve of Independence day ? Be honest about it .. But , this is the right time for Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission, RBI head to directly to the people. We should also have business icons and thought leaders like Naryana Mooorthy, Sam Pitroda, Sunil Mittal, Sachin Tendulkar, Dhoni, and writers , celebrities talk directly to the people. The idea is to instil confidence and security to the people.

Go Vernacular : Talking in high jargon filled English is not gonna do the trick. The biggest curse of India is that we have not been able to permeate the growth of the economy to the villages. Few people realise that villages, tier 2 and 3 cities hold the key to super power status of India. They may not be English educated but they have spending power. And like Unilever’s CEO Mr Paul said in a interview , ” We will have to drive people’s habits” . Very True!

But talk to people in their language.

Start spending but in a controlled way . Educate, Empower and set example and spread the word. Be a thought leader yourself. Ask your friends to spend but not in excess. Try to include Indian products in your grocery. This will fuel domestic economy and also in the long term make us a potential market and make it more investor friendly .

Simple things are can go a long way. You dont have to be a Chief Economist to drive change.

Just a thought : We should stop IMF and S&P500 and other agency give investor ratings during recession. Otherwise people are gonna reach such stats and go into a shell and reduce spending and brakes the FDI’s.

My mom shouts every time i sit in front of the laptop . She shouts , ” Vikas, you are always sitting in front of your laptop and using the Internet. Why don’t you go out with your friends. why don’t you read some books. You used to have such good reading habits ”

I cringe when she shouts at me for this. She uses internet only to check stock market info.

But today i retorted , ” Mom, I read everything online . ,Economist,Time, Business Week, .. almost everything. It is not that I don’t like reading the print edition. I love the print edition. But you know what ? There are so many reasons i read information online.”

Reasons are :

I am not disturbed by unnecessary print/tv ads

I dont have to pay for news and articles published online

Blogs , review sites and forums are more authentic

I can express my opinion

and research e-books are free to download.

To top it , my favorite marketing fella Seth Godin blogs ..

I just dont find TV news channels good enough anymore. Most of them are biased and hyped !

I guess my mom was not convinced enough. She continued to glare and shout and I continued to cringe and squirm!

Alright ! this is kinda cheeky and ” oh-my-god I I cant allow that” idea , but may i suggest to all managers and boss and CMO’s and CFo’s and the CEO’s to allow employees to take a nap post lunch for at least 10-15 min?

It is not like taking a small nap everyday is going to bring down business and nosedive the profits , is it ?

People who took naps also had no problems falling asleep at night. Maybe the CEO himself needs one , no ?

So what is behind the beauty of napping ?

“It may protect brain circuits from overuse until those neurons can consolidate what’s been learned about a procedure,” says Robert Stickgold, Ph.D., coauthor of the Harvard study.

Here is the thing. Too much of napping leads to sleep and you wont be able to sleep in the night. The trick is to make it short and early .

By early – means daylight hours, at least five to 7 hours before you plan on going to sleep that night (between 2 and 4 p.m. is prime). Any later and your circadian rhythms will kick in, and you will rob yourself of a fitful nighht sleep.

As for short, keep your naps to less than an hour; 20 to 30 minutes is enough for most people to get the benefits.

So, how to do it ?

To help stick to this nap- find a quiet couch/sofa or carpeted floor where you can lie down. Shut your eyes in your office chair for 20 minutes to relax and refresh . You need to make sure you are not disturbed by phone calls and other avoidable distractions .

Home , work or just before a game I guarantee that you’ll find that—after a nice restorative nap, you’ll play much better with others.